Immanentizing the Eschaton: The Gnostic Myth of Darwinism and Socio-political Utopianism
- by Phillip D. Collins ©, Mar. 28th, 2005
Darwinism and the Rise of Gnosticism
With the publication of The Da Vinci Code and the release of the Matrix films, Gnosticism has experienced a cultural revival in the West. Is the rise of Gnostic thinking simply a fleeting trend, like the outrageous clothing that Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera wear one day and never don again? Perhaps. Yet, it is interesting to note that the popularization of Darwinian evolution preceded Gnosticism's ascendancy in the West. The significance of this fact becomes evident when one reads the words of Dr. Wolfgang Smith:
“As a scientific theory, Darwinism would have been jettisoned long ago. The point, however, is that the doctrine of evolution has swept the world, not on the strength of its scientific merits, but precisely in its capacity as a Gnostic myth. It affirms, in effect, that living beings created themselves, which is in essence a metaphysical claim… Thus, in the final analysis, evolutionism is in truth a metaphysical doctrine decked out in scientific garb. In other words, it is a scientistic myth. And the myth is Gnostic, because it implicitly denies the transcendent origin of being; for indeed, only after the living creature has been speculatively reduced to an aggregate of particles does Darwinist transformism become conceivable. Darwinism, therefore, continues the ancient Gnostic practice of depreciating ‘God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth.’ It perpetuates, if you will, the venerable Gnostic tradition of ‘Jehovah bashing.’ And while this in itself may gladden Gnostic hearts, one should not fail to observe that the doctrine plays a vital role in the economy of Neo-Gnostic thought, for only under the auspices of Darwinist ‘self-creation’ does the Good News of ‘self-salvation’ acquire a semblance of sense.” (242-43)
In light of this intriguing observation, one could view the current rise of Gnosticism as the natural corollary of Darwinism's unquestionable epistemological primacy in the West. The current Gnostic revival could represent the next stage of Darwinism's metastasis.
It is interesting to note that the British Royal Society, the Masonic institution responsible for the promulgation of Darwinism, rigorously imposed a division between science and theology upon the halls of scientific inquiry. Webster Tarpley characterizes this division as "literally Gnostic." Indeed, the restriction of scientific research to the corporeal machinations of nature is redolent of Gnostic thinking. It is a distortion of Platonic metaphysics, the conceptual framework of which emphasizes a separation of the corporeal (the Becoming) and the incorporeal (the Being). This framework bears close resemblance to the traditional Christian Weltanschauung, which divides existence into the spiritual and the physical. However, Gnosticism rejected the Christian Eschaton of heaven and ••••. This is where the distortion begins.
According to Gnosticism, the physical universe is ••••. Corporeal existence is a prison that fetters man through the demonic agents of space and time. However, through revelatory experience (gnosis), the sensate being of man could be transformed and this •••• could become heaven. Guided by this Gnostic axiom, the Freemasonic Royal Society redirected scientific attention exclusively towards the material world. By focusing scientific efforts upon the temporal spatial realm, the members of the Royal Society probably hoped to see the eventual transformation of the irredeemable physical realm into the "immanentized Eschaton" of an earthly heaven.
This was also the ultimate objective of Marxism, which was disseminated on the popular level as both fascism and communism. It is no coincidence that, historically, both the Nazis and the communists exhibited a religious adherence to the Gnostic myth of Darwinism. Smith writes: "In place of an Eschaton which ontologically transcends the confines of this world, the modern Gnostic envisions an End within history, an Eschaton, therefore, which is to be realized within the ontological plane of this visible universe" (238; emphasis added). According to Vatican insider Malachi Martin, the Italian humanists who eventually created speculative Masonry "reconstructed the concept of gnosis, and transferred it to a thoroughly this-worldly plane" (519). Both Nazism and communism were birthed by organizational derivations of Masonry.
Given Gnosticism's derision for all things corporeal, it is extremely paradoxical that its adherents exhibit such a preoccupation with this material plane. Nonetheless, the Eschaton must manifest itself within the temporal spatial realm. Gnostic psychologist Carl Jung reiterates:
“According to [the alchemist] Basilius Valentinus, the earth (as prima materia) is not a dead body, but is inhabited by a spirit that is its life and soul. All created things, minerals included, draw their strength from this earth-spirit. This spirit is life...and it gives nourishment to all the living things it shelters in its womb.” (329)
It comes as little surprise that Darwinism, which is premised upon metaphysical naturalism and materialism, is so compatible with Gnosticism. Both emphasize the primacy of this material plane. Had such a metaphysical doctrine remained confined to the realm of academic polemics, it may have been harmless enough. However, this was not to be the case. The Gnostic myth of Darwinism eventually migrated from the abstraction of speculative philosophy to other areas of study. With this migration, Darwinism enjoyed epistemological primacy. Julian Huxley elaborates:
“The concept of evolution was soon extended into other than biological fields. Inorganic subjects such as the life-history of stars and the formation of the chemical elements on the one hand, and on the other hand subjects like linguistics, social anthropology, and comparative law and religion, began to be studied from an evolutionary angle, until today we are enabled to see evolution as a universal and all-pervading process.” (Qutd. in Newman 272)
Inevitably, the Gnostic myth of Darwinism subsumed social and political theory. The result was the socio-political Utopianism that underpinned all of the 20th century scientific dictatorships. Nazi Germany stands as a prime example of a Gnostic scientific dictatorship edified by Darwinism. In fact, Darwinian Sir Arthur Keith candidly admitted: "The German Fuhrer as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution" (230). Darwinism's natural correlative, Gnosticism, was also present. Nazism was premised upon the occult doctrines of a Gnostic cult called Ariosophy, which promoted:
“[T]he rule of gnostic elites and orders, the stratification of society according to racial purity and occult initiation, the ruthless subjugation and ultimate destruction of non-German inferiors, and the foundation of a pan-German world-empire. Such fantasies were actualized with terrifying consequences in the Third Reich: Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka are the hellish museums of Nazi apocalyptic, the roots of which lay in the millennial visions of Ariosophy.” (Goodrick-Clarke, no pagination)
The Holocaust, which was an orgy of violence and death, represented Nazi Germany's efforts to "immanentize the Eschaton." In essence, Germany qualified as a Gnostic scientific dictatorship, edified by the "science" of Darwinism.
Communist Russia also exhibited all of the characteristics consistent with this profile. The Encyclopedia of Religion explains: "both Hegel and his materialist disciple Marx might be considered direct descendants of gnosticism" (576). In fact, Hegel is the ideological nexus where the Gnostic scientific dictatorships of Nazism and communism intersect. In The Secret Cult of the Order, Antony Sutton states: "Both Marx and Hitler have their philosophical roots in Hegel" (118). According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, the Gnostic Kabbalist named Christoph Oetinger significantly influenced Hegel's early work (576). From Hegel would spring two of the worst scientific dictatorships in history. Both of them were Gnostic at their core:
“In this century, with the presentation of traditional religious positions in secular form, there has emerged a secular Gnosticism beside the other great secular religions--the mystical union of Fascism, the apocalypse of Marxist dialectic, the Earthly City of social democracy. The secular Gnosticism is almost never recognized for what it is, and it can exist alongside other convictions almost unperceived.” (Webb 418)
As history has graphically demonstrated, the various religious crusades to "immanentize the Eschaton" are deadly serious. This truth is tangibly evidenced by the atrocities committed by the socio-political Utopians of secular Gnosticism. Both Auschwitz and the Soviet gulag are products of the same jihad. The secular theocracies that have waged this jihad have consistently been scientific dictatorships edified by Darwinism.
Read the entire article at:
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Darwinism_Gnostic_Myth.htm